An Inconvenient Comfort
by Fire Tears X
Summary: When he felt his world was falling apart, he confided in the person who would only stomp on those broken pieces. But she's more than that... she's more than he'll ever know. 4x05; alternative telling. Rathan.
1. Chapter 1

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Summary**: And with that last plea, Nathan let go of Rachel's wrist, undertaken by an undeniable arousal. With so much left to ponder, he fell into a sequence of ecstasy, bliss, and betrayal. 4x05; alternative telling.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but my soul.

**A/N**: This story jumps off at the beginning of 4x05; the episode where Haley reveals that she's pregnant and Nathan goes to visit Rachel.

* * *

He was always a wandering soul; doing whatever he was told or looking out for the best interest of his loved ones, putting his own aside. He could feel his whole life fall into place for those 10 seconds he believed he had it all figured out. But it all crashed into pieces as he rejoiced to his wife, Haley.

"Haley!" Nathan screamed across the hall, calling his wife out from the bathroom. His arms were wide open and his grin was reaching from ear to ear.

"I'm going to Duke!" before he could exhale properly, Haley spoke.

"I'm pregnant."

This couldn't be happening. That small glimmer of candlelight across the cold, dark alley was just blown out in an instant. His smile fell into an emotionless glare.

"It's not Brooke. It's me." Haley said, following nervous laughter in hopes of lightening the awkward atmosphere.

The ground beneath Nathan shook as he was overwhelmed with emotion. Stiffened and almost robotic, he sat down on the barstool and put his head down. Haley approached him in half smiles and short breaths. She placed her hand on his shoulder and showed some more teeth when he looked up at her.

"We're pregnant." She emphasized on _we're_ and stumbled on _pregnant_.

Before Nathan could even question himself if this moment was a dream or not, his phone started ring. Rachel's name lit up on sub LCD and Haley's half smiles turned into a frown.

Haley grew impatient for a human reaction from Nathan. Anything.

"Nathan?"

He gently swept Haley's hand off his shoulder and rose from his barstool. Without another breath, he walked out the door and left Haley-and her tears-behind.

--

"Hey." Nathan entered, robotic in tone.

"Hi." Rachel followed with a slick grin across her face.

Her room was dim. Drapes covered every window and every lamp was off. She lit the room with scented candles.

"I know we should be at school but I really wanted to talk to you," Rachel reminded Nathan it was only 8 in the morning and he already had the worst day of his life.

"… About the accident." she continued, motioning him to sit next to her in bed.

Nathan, like a well-trained dog, obeyed. She scooted a little closer to him. He sighed but his muscles were relaxed. His eyes were focused on the door in front of him.

"I feel like we're connected somehow. Like we're the only two people in the planet trying to understand this. And… well…" she scooted as close to Nathan as possible. She could hear him exhale deeply.

"I thought that maybe we can help each other through it." she finished, gazing deep into his dry, emotionless eyes.

She placed her hand on Nathan's face, digging her nails into his short hair. He looked at her, unfocused and unresponsive. She could smell his cool breath as she moved her face closer to his. And in an instant, their lips connected. She puckered in hopes that he would kiss her back but he didn't budge. She broke the kiss and chuckled under her breath.

"Was it bad?" Rachel asked in her most innocent tone.

Nathan, as cold and emotionless as ever, shook his head.

Rachel fiddled her fingers underneath his shirt. She knew her hands were clammy from her daily morning shower but it had no effect on him. She firmly pressed her hand against his left chest and stared up at him dreamily. Not even his heartbeat had risen.

"You're so calm." Rachel exclaimed, still rubbing his bare chest underneath his shirt.

Her warm lips pressed against his neck gently. She took slow traveling kisses up to his ear until she was nibbling on the helix of it.

"I can make you feel so much better, Nathan." her curious hands started traveling up his leg. She paused on his thigh and smiled when he looked away.

She went in for another unrequited kiss on the lips.

"Do you want to touch?" Rachel asked, grabbing Nathan's hand.

She took Nathan's hand and placed it on her thigh, slowly moving it up her shirt. Once his hands reached her desired destination she no longer had to control them.

"I want you… I _need_ you." Rachel claimed, unzipping his pants to return the favor.

Nathan grabbed her by the wrist before she touched him. He gazed at her with humane emotions for the first time that morning. His eyes alone told a million stories. Rachel noticed lust, anger, sadness, and desperation in his face.

"Rachel…" he was still completely lifeless in his speech.

His thumb slowly began to caress Rachel's wrist as he held it in his willful grip.

"Please, Nathan. I can help you through this."

And with that last plea, Nathan let go of Rachel's wrist, undertaken by an undeniable arousal. With so much left to ponder, he fell into a sequence of ecstasy, bliss, and betrayal.

--

It was moments like this when Rachel hated herself. There was nothing like culmination to make someone realize what they're actually doing. She watched Nathan, confused as ever, as he zipped up his pants and put his shoes on. She stood up from her knees and sat next to him on the bed.

"Maybe it's best if we don't speak on what just happened." Nathan said, breaking the silence as he stood up from the bed.

He turned to look at Rachel, who looked like a deer in headlights with her head down. For a change of events, Rachel was the one who couldn't face Nathan. He hated seeing her this way. He knew that guilt was eating at her as much as it was eating at him. He tucked her shining red hair behind her ears and curled the right corners of his mouth, giving her a lifeless smile.

"See you at school?" Nathan asked, turning before shutting her door completely.

Rachel nodded and inhaled dramatically, remembering that she has to prepare for another day of high school.

Walking down the empty school halls during class hours was an activity Rachel was familiar of. She took a quick glance through the window of her 1st period class while scurrying through the door to make it to the girl's bathroom.

In a stall, Rachel cradled herself in fetal position on top of the bathroom toilet. She recapped her entire morning in an attempt to break out of her overawed stage. Just like Nathan, she had become a beautiful statue, free of emotions through a series of events. Nathan was everything she wanted. So why is her throat closing and why can't she stop this downfall of tears from streaming through her red eyes?

She exited the stall with her eyes as dry as they'll ever be and she watched herself in the mirror.

"Pathetic." She whispered to herself before preening in the mirror in her usual egotistical manner.

She fluffed her hair and wiped her cheeks dry but her eyes were still filled with sadness; sadness that she can see through her vainglorious posture. As she forced a smile that contrasted her welling eyes, Haley walked through the bathroom door. Rachel took one glance at her through the mirror and hung her eyes in shame.

"You're speechless?! What happened? The cat-or should I say dick-got your tongue?" Haley rejoiced half playful, half rivalrous. She had no idea how true that questioning statement was.

Rachel kept her mouth shut, looking in every other direction besides Haley's. She aimlessly toyed with the sink and took hardly any breaths while Haley made her way through the stall.

"What's wrong today, bitch? You're tiny brain ran out of comebacks?" Haley asked through the trinkling noises coming from her stall.

"Ha!" Rachel responded halfheartedly, trying her hardest to hide the pain in her voice.

Haley exited the stall and glared at Rachel through the mirror.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Haley said, growing impatient for an insult.

Rachel lifted her head and gave Haley a look through the mirror. Haley immediately noticed that Rachel wasn't in a normal state of mind so she took a few steps closer to her, being very cautious with every step and looking to make sure Rachel didn't respond negatively to any of them.

"Hey?" Haley said in a genuinely concerned tone.

She touched the back of Rachel's shoulder and gave a concerning smile.

"I'm so sorry!" Rachel said, turning to Haley in a face full of tears.

"About that Nathan stuff?" Haley asked in a shocked tone.

Rachel slightly nodded and looked at Haley in a hard gaze. She opened her mouth in an attempt to come clean but nothing came out.

"Come on, that's so last week." Haley announced in a comedic tone. "It's not like you had a chance with him anyway." Haley continued, following the sentence with an abundance of dramatic scoffs and 'pfft's.

"Yeah…" Rachel agreed, lying with tearful eyes.

"So wipe that egg of your face and go to class," Haley mothered, passing Rachel a box of napkins she kept in her purse. "Slut."

Rachel had never seen this concerned side of Haley. The moment was a lot shorter than it sounds in theory but it wasn't a forgettable one. Had Haley almost considered Rachel an acquaintance? Not only was she a slut but now she was a backstabber.

--

School was long and vague for Nathan, as always. After spending the entire day avoiding both Haley and Rachel, he was exhausted. He walked through the apartment door in a sluggish manner and threw his backpack on the floor beside the couch. He crashed there and sighed unhappily as he fell into a dreary nap.

He didn't know how long he laid there napping but the feeling of someone stroking his hair woke him up. As he opened his eyes he fell in love with Haley all over again. Her beauty was unexplainable and that warming smile was better than waking up to the smell of foldgers.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Haley welcomed, still stroking his hair as she sat beside him.

"Oh, and you can't leave stuff hanging around on the floor anymore. I'm pregnant. Remember?" she joked, pointing to his backpack where he left it..

An overwhelming waterfall of guilt flooded through Nathan's body as those last 3 words registered into his mind. He spent hours avoiding and ignoring what he just did and now he's facing his priority problem right in the eye. He looked up at Haley and held back all the tears that were trying to escape his eyes.

How could he do this to her?

"Haley…" his voice choked as he spoke to her for the first time since that morning. "I have something to tell you…"

* * *

**A/N**: If anyone is curious to know if any other characters will have a part in this story… of course they will! I just need to think of a convenient way of telling other people's stories… like Brooke's.

**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter II**

**A/N**: Let's just pretend Haley didn't tell Lucas she was pregnant at the end of 4x04 and Brooke didn't expose Haley at school.

I just want to thank Conspiracies, Nellie, and RathanIsLove to the bottom of my heart. I'm extremely proud of this fic and _every_ review matters to me. Thanks for the motivation.

* * *

"Haley…" his voice choked as he spoke to her for the first time since that morning. "I have something to tell you…"

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face into her neck.

"Yeah?" Haley responded tucking out her hair nervously.

"This morning," Nathan sighed, hiding his face in her embrace. "I was so lost. I'm still lost, Hales. I didn't know what to say or how to think-" tears found their way out of his eyes as he spoke.

"Don't say anymore." Haley interrupted, hugging him even tighter.

"Sometimes I forget that we're only kids. We're still in high school, Nathan. So much has happened in the past year that doesn't happen to some people in a lifetime," Haley spoke with so much understanding. "It was wrong of me to expect anything more than the reaction you gave me. We're so young and we still have to discover ourselves-now, more than ever. Let's take this one day at a time." she finished, embracing Nathan tighter than ever.

Nathan was crying so much, yet, he held back so many tears. He lifted his head and looked into the eyes of his wife. Her eyes were just as watering; dropping, more or less, as many tears as her husband's.

"You're so good to me, Haley. I don't know what I did to deserve you."

Haley smiled as she looked into his genuine eyes and she kissed him with the most passionate kiss they shared since the day of the wedding.

"So," Nathan laughed through his tears. "A baby?!" he said excitingly, yet, still sorrowful.

"Yup! We're becoming a family." Haley announced merrily through her tears.

Nathan's tearful eyes smiled the first time that day as he continuously rubbed Haley's stomach and smothered her in passionate, apologetic kisses.

--

Rachel sat in her bed most of the day, staring blankly at her cheerleading uniform behind her. The entire cheerleading squad had a press conference to attend for none other than Nathan Scott.

"I sure can pick them." Rachel blurted out to herself in the empty room.

The door creaked open and her roommate, Brooke, walked into the room.

"Talking to yourself?" she questioned jokingly, making her way to the closet. "I can't say I'm too shocked. I knew you were a crazy bitch the minute I met you."

"Haha, whore." Rachel responded in a deadpan tone. "I see your baby bump is growing in nicely." She added.

"I'm not…" Brooke paused midsentence and pouted on her way to the bathroom with her cheerleading outfit.

Rachel laughed a little but she still couldn't forget how lost she felt at the moment. She was sworn to secrecy but she wanted so badly to reveal what happened. She wanted to make sense of her feelings. She wanted Nathan so badly and once she got him she doesn't want anything more than to take it back.

"So anyway, mommy dearest, are you going to the press conference?" Rachel asked in attempt to rid her thoughts.

"Of course!" Brooke answered. "I am cheerleading captain and it's not like I have a blind date or anything." she continued with an exaggerated frown.

"Is Haley going?" Rachel's skittish inflection was inarguable.

"I don't know. She and Nathan are having a shaky time right now."

Rachel had an overflow of different emotions hit her at once.

"Why?!" she frenzied in sitting position, sounding both excited and genuinely concerned.

Brooke shook her head, thinking that Rachel saw this as an opportunity.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." she retorted. "Not that it matters anyway. You don't stand a chance." Brooke scoffed in the same manner Haley did when she said the same thing.

_You have no idea. _Rachel thought to herself before finally standing to her feet and grabbing her cheerleading outfit.

--

Brooke was walking side-by-side with Rachel down to the city hall. As they entered the building and made their way to the conference room, she spotted Peyton hugging Lucas tightly. She rolled her eyes in disgust and started to walk past them. Rachel made it through the archway to the conference room but Brooke was pulled back to the entrance hall.

"Brooke." Lucas called, almost sounding shocked to see her.

"Let go of me, Luke." she replied, shaking her arm spasmodically.

"Just listen. Please!" he begged, loosening his grip.

Brooke folded her arms and stood there, daring not to look in his eyes.

"I know this is hard for you…" he preached, searching for the right words to keep Brooke at his attention. "But I'm here for you. I'm here for you and I'm here for our baby."

"How come you always assume this is _your_ baby, Luke." She began storming off to the conference room. "You're not the only-"

She was cut off by another pull from Lucas. He pinned her to the wall and held her there. He was being really forceful but she could feel his gentleness at the same time.

"You're making it hard for me to believe the best in you when you say things like that, Brooke. The truth is I don't believe you. Not for a second. I know this baby is mines and I know you're mad at me but I won't be punished for a simple mistake." Lucas said, still holding her tight against the wall.

Brooke started to say 'simple mistake?' but after seeing Lucas step up for the first time in so long, she found herself speechless. Just like that night on the beach.

"Now…" he cleared his throat and loosened his grip but still refused to let her go. "I have to go to the police station to make a statement. I'll call you tonight so we can finish talking about it."

Lucas finally let her go and began walking away. As he held the entrance door open he heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind.

"Wait!" Brooke hollered. He turned. "I'll come with you."

--

Nathan stood in the center of the conference room, taking in all the commotion going on around him. There were cameras at every corner and so many people there for support. Peyton was the first person to congratulate him that day and Theresa followed. He felt a tap on the back of his shoulder and he turned to another Raven's cheerleading beauty.

"Hey there." Rachel recited, hoping it came off as more casual-and-awkward, like she felt, than her usual flirtatious demeanor.

"Hey." Nathan uttered back with his head down.

"You know, I wanted to talk to you all day but I just never had the courage to." Rachel stated, finally feeling some release to talk about her feelings.

"Yeah… me too." He replied, still looking away from her.

"I don't expect you to be easy about this, Nate. I really don't. So, if you need more time to reflect then let me know." Rachel supported. "I mean that."

Nathan couldn't help but to show a side of shock to see Rachel being so humane and understanding.

"Thanks, Rachel." was the only words Nathan could find to escape his mouth.

He stood there, next to her, with his hands in his pocket and his eyes studying the room. For a few short moments his guilt started to recede. He couldn't explain it, even when he tried, but he didn't feel like dying in that moment.

"It's time." Nathan announced, breaking the silence.

Dan made his way to the podium as everyone in the room clapped at his entrance. Rachel stood next to Peyton with the cheerleaders and Nathan stood beside the podium, waiting for his dad to speak his peace. It wasn't soon before Nathan stood before the cameras and had everyone's attention. Dan placed both of his hands on Nathan's shoulders and whispered in his ear.

"The greatest day of your life."

If only Dan knew what his son went through that day. If only Dan knew the guilt his son carried on him and the burning he felt from within. Dan had no idea how completely untrue that statement was.

Nathan faced the eager audience and exhaled deeply before he spoke.

--

Lucas and Brooke made access through the police station's doors. Brooke almost felt worried for her ex-friend after Lucas explained what was going on during the car ride. Detective Wilcott's waited for Lucas at the entrance.

"We have him in custody right now." The detective said as he shook Lucas and Brooke's hand. "But there's something I need to tell you."

Worry ran across Lucas's face when the detective said those words. Brooke clinched on to Lucas's wrist and stood on her toes in anticipation.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong?!" Brooke asked anxiously.

"No! No!" Detective answered quickly. Lucas and Brooke let out deep sighs of relief. "It's just that… the guy we caught isn't Derek Sommers. Not exactly."

Lucas and Brooke looked at each other in extreme confusion.

"You see… the number you gave us led us to Derek Sommers directly but he didn't fit your description of him. So, after staking outside your friend's home, we found someone tampering with her phone lines 

outside the house." Detective Wilcotts led Lucas and Brooke to an interrogation room where Derek sat, staring through the window.

"He revealed to us that his real name is Ian Banks and he's had some sort of infatuation with Peyton for years… through her podcasts. The real Sommers is this guy right here." Detective Wilcotts pointed straight ahead the hall.

Lucas couldn't believe his eyes. A black man, about his height, stood up from the bench in which the detective pointed. Derek stood up from the bench and walked towards the three.

"Peyton?" he said questionably with his hand reaching out to Brooke. "I'm your brother, Derek."

--

As Nathan finished announcing his plans for college, or lack thereof, Rachel felt a huge lump down her throat. She couldn't believe it. Nathan just announced that he is going to be a father and she couldn't feel anymore pathetic. She forced a smile for the cameras but she wanted nothing more than to find a corner to curl up into. She watched Nathan smile greatly as everyone smothered him with hugs and handshakes.

Nathan needed time away from the crowd. Just a minute if that was all he can get. After receiving 50 hugs from Peyton alone, he walked into the bathroom. To his relief, it was empty. He let out a few sobs as he studied himself in the mirror. His hair was ruffled and his eyes were puffy. He turned on the sink and soaked his face, mainly his eyes. The bathroom door creaked open but he couldn't see through his shut eyes.

"Nathan? Are you alone?" The petite voice asked at the door.

"Yes, Rach. It's empty." He answered, drying his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket after failing to find napkins.

Rachel had no intentions of crying in front of Nathan but before she can even speak, tears just started to flow through her eyes.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew about the baby all along." She assured him, wiping her cheeks clean.

"Rachel… I-"

"No! I don't want to hear it." She interrupted. "Believe me, I know I'm no angel but if I knew you were going to be a father I would've _never_ done that to you!" She wailed, watching her tone so no one else would hear her through the door.

"Rachel, I was so lost. I had no idea what to do. I still don't."

"Oh… I guess that makes everything okay." She replied sarcastically, defensively folding her arms.

"No. It doesn't!" Nathan's voice rose. He couldn't believe that she's making him out to be a guiltless bastard. "You think it's easy for me?! You think I can smile in my wife's face every day, knowing that I cheated on her?!" He started crying. "How can I ever explain to her that I let someone give me head because she thinks I have eyes like my Uncle Cooper?"

Rachel's eyes widened. Her conquest to pursue Nathan swayed her completely off track of her own mind. She had forgotten that his Uncle Cooper was the very reason she felt that way about him. With nothing left to say, she rushed out the door in tears, leaving Nathan to cry to himself for a little while longer.

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, so I know I altered the Psycho Derek storyline drastically but I HATED how unrealistic it was so I decided to drop it almost completely. I'm not making any promises but don't expect me break Psycho Derek out of jail or anything. But DO expect some more Brucas scenes!

**Please review! It means more than I can ever say.**


	3. Chapter 3

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter III**

**A/N**: Once again, thanks for the few but sweet reviews. All it takes is one person to make my day and I appreciate every little comment.

* * *

Nathan walked into his house with a mouth wide open and jungle yawns escaping his lungs. He was physically and emotionally tired after the press conference and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and forget everything that happened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Rachel hadn't returned any of his text messages. He really didn't know why he was so concerned about her.

'_I'm so sorry, Rachel. Please don't hate me._' Nathan texted.

To this day, Nathan still had mutual enemies from his days of being an asshole and he was determined to not have Rachel join the club. He didn't want to hurt Rachel anymore than he's hurting. He sighed as he placed his phone back into his pocket and walked toward his bedroom. This day had to be the longest one of his life.

As he entered his room, he smirked at the vision of his wife sleeping. She was the sloppiest sleeper he had ever known and all he could do is smile to himself. He stripped down to nothing but his boxers and he climbed into bed behind Haley. He wrapped his arms around her stomach and buried his head into her hair, breathing in every scent of her.

"Mmm… Nathan." Haley whispered so low under her breathe that Nathan wasn't sure of what she just murmured.

"Haley?" Nathan murmured in his bedroom tone. "You up?"

She didn't answer. Nathan shook her a bit then leaned over her shoulder to study her face. It was as neutral as it was when he walked into the room. Was Haley calling his name out in her sleep? Nathan tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned in to whisper to her.

"Haley… I love you more than anything and anyone. You're the perfect wife for me – for anyone." Nathan could feel his throat closing. "But I'm not the perfect husband. I've made mistakes... I made a big mistake."

Nathan nearly jumped at the sound of his phone ringing on the charger. He sighed in half relief, half annoyance. He didn't want to get his phone but he felt relieved because the sound of the ringing snapped him out of his confessing spellbind. He kissed Haley gently on the cheek and rose out of bed to check his phone. It was a text message from Rachel.

'_I'm fine. I'm at the bridge.'_

Nathan couldn't help but wonder why she was at the bridge. Was she teasing him? Did she want him to come? Nathan didn't want anything more than to go into bed and see a new day but he knew he wasn't going to sleep until he went to the bridge. With that last thought, he put on any pair of clothing he could find and he left without saying a word to his sleeping wife.

--

Lucas parked his car outside Peyton's home.

"Now, _this_ is Peyton." Brooke laughed, showcasing the two-story suburban home Vanna White style. Brooke shook her head and corrected herself. "Well… her home anyway."

Derek laughed a little. Brooke had been so welcoming and friendly in the short car ride from the station to his half-sister's home. Derek had only hoped that his sister could be just as nice and welcoming. He followed Lucas and Brooke to the door and took deep breathes as the doorbell rung through her house. Before he can even make a picture of Peyton in his head the door swung open. A beautiful, skinny, blone-haired girl opened the door with an array of emotions.

Never mind why Lucas was at her house at 12 in the morning. Never mind why Brooke was at her house at all. The only thought that crossed Peyton's mind was 'who is the dark and handsome feller in the back?' Lucas began sucking air through his teeth, prepping himself to reveal something important to her. Brooke, on the other hand, didn't look in her direction at all.

"This is-" Lucas began, only to be cut off with a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm your brother, Derek."

Peyton just stared at Derek with her mouth open for a few seconds. Part of her was completely glad that psycho Derek wasn't really her brother and the 2nd part of her was disgusted with herself for thinking that her half-brother was hot for the millisecond she considered Lucas and Brooke were setting her up on a blind date.

"Peyton, I am." She spattered quickly, rolling her eyes almost instantly at her dumbfounded stupidity.

Derek reached out his hand to give her a firm handshake. Peyton looked down at his hand and pushed it away whilst shaking her head. Before Derek can look at Peyton in confusion and disappointment, she already had her arms wrapped around his neck. This was different than her meeting with Psycho Derek/Ian. With Derek -- the real Derek -- she felt a connection right from "hello".

"It's nice to meet you, big bro'." Peyton said, breaking the hug and patting his shoulder. "But there's no need to be overprotective. I'm usually not that easy."

As Derek let out a stiff, awkwardly uncomfortable laugh, followed by Peyton's traditional nervous laugh, Brooke began walking backwards towards Lucas's car.

"Well, while you guys have a private family reunion, we're going to give you some space." She announced before grabbing Lucas and dragging him to the car with her.

Lucas looked at Brooke in amazement as he watched her eyes glimmer in the stars while she looked into the nightsky. Brooke glanced at him and noticed him exchanging looks.

"What?" she asked all giggly and childish.

"Thanks for being nice to Peyton for one day. I don't know if you realize this but you were actually within 20 feet of Peyton and you didn't exchange any dirty words with her."

"Well, the bitch did have a rough day so I decided to let her off easy today."

Lucas didn't laugh out loud. He only let out a small chuckle and smiled at Brooke with one of his biggest smiles he'd ever given her.

"What?" Brooke asked again, stretching the question as if she was growing annoyed of the stares.

"It's just… it really hit me. You're pregnant!" Lucas nearly sounded as if he were congratulating her. Brooke looked up at Lucas quickly with an unreadable expression. She almost forgot about that lie. "_We're_ pregnant." Lucas looked over at Peyton's house to see Peyton and Derek sitting and talking on the staircase. "Looking at them made me realize that we're going to have that family. It may not be the most convenient time but we're doing it. It's me and you, Brooke."

A single tear escaped Brooke's eyes as she looked up at Lucas. Lucas caught the tear with his thumb but failed to remove his hand from her cheek after rubbing it dry. Brooke's heart began racing and she closed her eyes, knowing very well what was coming next. As she could feel his wind frozen lips nearing closer, it occurred to her that she couldn't keep the truth from Lucas any longer.

"Lucas I have something to tell you. I'm-"

And there it was. Brooke was cut off by a passionate kiss under the stars. Just like a similar night where they exchanged their first real "I love you"s.

--

Rachel sat on the edge of the closed-down bridge and stared into the water for almost an hour. She lied to Nathan about seeing Keith but after looking in darkness for so long, you can start to see anything you want to. Including Cooper and Nathan.

"Are you… planning on jumping?" a voice behind her said, creeping slowly to the edge.

"No, Nathan. I'm not going to jump." She responded in an easy tone to let him know he's welcome to join her.

Nathan took the tone just as she'd wanted him to. He sat next to her and looked into the water just as she had been for hours.

"How'd you know my text was an invitation?"

"Wasn't it?"

Rachel paused for a minute and then smirked. "Yeah."

Rachel knew exactly why she invited Nathan to join her but she had no idea how to get what she want or if he would endorse it. Instead, they both sat on the reconstructing bridge and looked into the dark puddle below them.

"Is it… scary?" Rachel asked. "Revisiting this place?"

"Yeah, at first. But after coming here every night since the accident I learned to overcome it."

Rachel nodded her head in understanding and continued to let the wind speak for them. Nathan, after a minute or so of silence, decided to speak.

"So, why'd you ask me to come here? Are you ready to fuss at me some more." He said, hoping that his joking demeanor was evident.

"No, anything but that! I had more than enough crying for one day." Rachel acclaimed. Nathan laughed. "I just wanted to talk to you… about the baby and all."

"Yeah?"

"When I said that I would've never done things to you if I knew you were having a baby, I was serious. You're kid is going to be beautiful and whether you believe it or not, it's going to have two amazing parents." She paused. "I would never do _anything_ to destroy that."

Nathan smiled at her and let out a defeated sigh. For the first time since he woke that morning, he didn't feel so tense and uneasy.

"Which brings me to my second point I wanted to make…" and without Nathan even noticing, Rachel leaned in and gave him a hard but short kiss on the lips. "When I'm with you -- believe it or not -- I'm thinking of you. Not Cooper."

"Rachel, I didn't mean it."

"Sure you did. But I just have to let you know that I really believe that we could've been something great. I can feel that when I'm with you. You may not believe it or you may deny it but we have something real. I'm not going to act on those feelings because an innocent child deserves better than what this skanky girl wants." Rachel finished in a comedic and happy tone.

The rest of the night -- or morning -- was short and vague.

--

Rachel awoke in her bed surprisingly early. She for sure thought she'd be the last person in Tree Hill to wake that day. Even Brooke, who was knocked out before she returned home, was still sleeping. Maybe it was destiny that Rachel had awaken when she did because before she can even properly brush her teeth someone was knocking soft but anxiously at the front door.

Rachel scrambled tiredly down the stairs, with no desire to hurry. As she swung the door open, ready to raise her voice at early morning visitor, she was caught off guard with what she was seeing. Nathan was standing in front her door, red-faced and puffy-eyed.

"I'm so sorry, Rach!" Nathan cried. "I told her about us. I told her about us and she kicked me out!"

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**PLEASE REVIEW! There's no way I can't appreciate the few reviews I do get but sometimes quantity IS better than quality. I'm lacking inspiration these days. Feed me, please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter IV**

**A/N**: Warning: This chapter is pretty much Brooke-centre. I have a little Rathan in there but Rachel is MIA for most of the chapter. I promise there's a juicy reason why.

* * *

Nathan sat on the living room sofa in despair. He covered his face and eyes in his hands and tried to answer Rachel's questions with low sounds so she won't hear the sobbing in his voice. Rachel had no idea what to say or how to react. She shuffled her feet as she stood in front of him, hoping he wouldn't look up at her.

"So… you walked all the way here after she kicked you out?" Rachel asked, running out of questions that Nathan won't answer.

Nathan nodded his head, still keeping his eyes toward the floor and his hands covering his face.

"I don't know what to say." Rachel admitted.

"Don't say anything." Nathan whispered hoping to conceal his cried-out voice.

Rachel began reaching her hand out to touch his shoulder. Before her hand can make contact Brooke's footsteps can be heard coming from down the stairs. Rachel started walking away from Nathan to give them some distance and he started wiping his eyes dry. Brooke walked into the room and seemed hardly phased by Nathan's presence.

"Nathan? What are you doing here so early?" she asked, hoping the embarrassment in her voice wasn't apparent. "Weekends are my bad hair days!"

Nathan didn't speak. He couldn't speak. He had no idea what to say. Rachel walked over to Brooke and grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her around the corner of the living room so that Nathan wouldn't hear her.

"There's some stuff going on with Naley." Rachel whispered.

"What happened?" Brooke's voice was already cracking. She was never this concerned when Nathan and Haley had yet another argument but she knew it had to be bad if Rachel was Nathan's confidante.

"I… I don't…" Rachel had no words to describe what she's done. "Talk to him." She whispered in a saddened tone before walking quickly up the stairs.

Brooke went back into the living room to see Nathan still hiding his face in his hands. She took slow steps toward him and tried not to draw attention to herself.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah, Brooke?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

In just those short exchanges of words Brooke was already sitting next to Nathan and rubbing his back in a comforting way. She attempted once more to find out what happened.

"Nathan, please. Tell me what happened."

--

Brooke stomped into the bedroom and glared at Rachel, who was sitting on her bed in shame, with a death stare. She held her chin up and made her way to the closet where she dug into the pocket of her jeans to retrieve her car keys. She looked at Rachel once more with an evil stare.

"Brooke! It's hard to understand but if I would've known it was going to break them up I would have never done it." Rachel pleaded as Brooke started stomping outside the room.

"Do you hear how stupid you sound?! You would have never slept with Nathan -- a married man -- if you knew it was going to break him and his wife up?" Brooke scoffed in repulsion. "Please don't insult my intelligence, Rachel!"

"I'm serious Brooke. Breaking Nathan and Haley up is the last thing I wanted for him. Please believe me."

"Sure, Rachel! I believe that you sucked his dick thinking that it was going to fix all his problems and he'll go back home to his wife and live happily ever after."

Brooke opened the door and spoke one last time with her body halfway out.

"You're a true friend." She said facetiously and slammed the door behind her.

As Brooke made her way back down the stairs she wrapped her arms around a distraught Nathan, who stood by the door and waited for her.

"Everything's going to be okay, Nate. I swear." She confirmed. "I'm going to drive you to Lucas's house and we'll work out everything there."

"Thank you, Brooke." Nathan said, hugging her back tightly.

--

Haley was crying uncontrollably into Lucas's shoulder. She admired that Lucas was always the person she could run to when her world was falling apart and this was one of those days. Lucas hadn't said a word since she ran into his room and begun crying. He knew that she'd tell him what happened when she felt the time was right. But right now, all she needed was her best friend.

"I love you, Luke." Haley muffled into his shoulder.

"I love you too, Hales. Whatever it is, it'll be okay."

Just as Lucas finished his sentence, two figures appeared through the curtained windows of his door. Before there was a complete knock on his door, he opened it just wide enough for his head to fit through. Brooke and Nathan were standing in front of his door with their hands in their pockets.

"Lucas…" Brooke said. "Can we talk to you?"

Lucas squeezed his way through the door, hoping they couldn't see Haley in his bed. After making it through the door crack he closed the door behind him.

"What's up?"

"Actually… can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Brooke asked before eyeing Nathan to walk away. He obeyed.

"Nathan and Haley are going through some things-" Brooke admitted.

"Yeah. I should've known." Lucas rolled his eyes and looked across the yard at Nathan, who stood against the bricks of his house.

"Nathan needs a place to sleep until things work themselves out. Can he stay here for a while?"

"Brooke, I don't know what to say. Haley is in my room crying her eyes out and you're trying to get me to agree to take Nathan under my wing without telling me what he's done."

"Does it matter? He's your brother and he needs your help!"

"Yes it matters!" he shouted. "Just tell me, Brooke!"

Brooke bit her lip and sighed.

"Promise not to overreact?" she asked in a pleading tone.

Lucas nodded in agreement.

--

"You son of a bitch!" Lucas said, pinning Nathan to the brick walls of his house. "You fucked Rachel?! How can you do that to Haley?!"

"I didn't _fuck_ anybody, Luke! Let me go!" he begged.

"Lucas, stop!" Brooke shouted from behind, trying her hardest to pull Lucas off of Nathan but he wouldn't budge. "Please stop! You're hurting him, Lucas!"

Lucas shook Nathan with force as his continued to bind him against the wall. The back of Nathan's head hit the bricks hard and Brooke gasped. A fed up Nathan took a swung at Lucas and hit him across the jaw line. Lucas caught his balance after falling back a little and returned the swing.

"Stop it, you guys!" Brooke shouted, crying in her voice.

"Lucas!"

A voice was heard from Lucas's door. Nathan turned to see Haley standing there with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Haley?" he called out to her as he started walking towards her.

Lucas ran in front of Haley to stop him.

"No, you stay the hell away from her!"

Brooke grabbed Nathan from the back to stop him.

"Come on, Nate. Let's go." She pleaded, involuntarily walking his weakened state to the car.

"But it's Haley. She's right there, Brooke."

"I know."

Nathan liked to believe that maybe he can fix it all in one day but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He just got inside the car and looked at a weeping Haley through the window as the car drove off. As he ran his fingers through his hair he winced as he touched the area that impacted the wall. He looked at his hands and saw blood. Brooke, switching views from the road and Nathan's hand, noticed the blood.

"You're bleeding." She remarked in a raspy voice. Her voice was already a whisper tone but after all the screaming she had just done it was no surprise it sounded like a rock was down her throat. "We're going back to Rachel's."

--

The living room was abnormally quiet. Nathan was lying with his bare stomach across Brooke's lap and his chin resting on the armrest of the couch. Brooke was softly treating the wounds across his back and on the back of his head. He was bleeding worst than she had thought. The only other time she saw Lucas that mad was a year ago when Lucas jumped on the guy who drugged Peyton at a Duke party. Brooke mindlessly rubbed a pad of alcohol across his back as she started to relive that day.

Nathan winced as the burning sensation started to become too painful. Brooke noticed how iffy he became so she stopped for a moment and began to pat the unbruised areas of his back. Brooke, with a million questions at thought, broke the silence.

"Do you think she'll forgive you?" Nathan picked up his head and turned around to look at Brooke. "For lying?"

"This is about you lying about your pregnancy for Haley, isn't it?"

Nathan shook his head and put his chin back on the armrest.

"It's about both." Brooke answered before continuing to treat his wounds.

After yet another long moment of silence the doorbell had rung. Brooke jumped to her feet and jogged to the door in her fluffy slippers. Peyton stood at the door with a sizeable box in her arms. She tilted her head to the left and noticed Nathan putting a shirt on. She scoffed and dropped the box at Brooke's feet.

"Figures! Here's some of Nathan's shit. You two can have a nice life together!" She shouted as she turned around and walked towards her car.

"Peyton, don't make me laugh. You're the last person to play Ms. Moral to me!"

"Even if you two weren't doing anything, what is Nathan doing here anyway? I guess it's okay that Nathan cheated on your best friend because it was with your new roomie, right?"

"Not that it's any of your business but Rachel and I aren't even talking." Brooke retorted.

"Yeah, I noticed you packed all your clothes and left the house like you did when we weren't talking."

"Don't be mistaken, Peyton! The only reason I am staying here is because Nathan needs a place to stay." Peyton started to talk but Brooke cut her off. "I shouldn't even explain why he can't stay with Dan and Deb's 'I told you so's are the _last_ thing he needs right now."

"'Living with Dan is _exactly_ what he needs right now! Better yet, he doesn't even deserve the comfort of a roof and a bed." Peyton shouted.

"Leave him alone, Peyton. He's going through a hard time right now and he needs a friend."

Peyton's tone became less forceful. "What is this, Brooke? You can forgive him but you can't forgive me?"

"Unlike you, Nathan didn't lie to Haley… twice!"

"Pot meet kettle."

"What?"

"Lucas told me that the both of you are having a baby." Brooke's face was shot. "But I put together the pieces and I realized Haley is really the one who's pregnant." Brooke's mouth opened but she couldn't find any words to say. "Lucas is a smart boy. He'll figure out your lies, Brooke."

And with that last statement, Peyton turned around and walked to her car uninterrupted. Brooke walked into the house to find Nathan sitting on the couch with his head down.

"Even Peyton hates me." He remarked. "When I was in high flyers she wrote me the most, ya know."

Brooke put her head down. She was lost for words so she just stood there with her hand behind her back and her hair covering her face.

"Go tell Lucas, Brooke. It's not too late." Nathan suggested.

Brooke let out a small smirk and walked towards Nathan. She wrapped her arms around him and he returned the favor.

"Thank you, Nate."

"No. Thank you.

Brooke smiled at Nathan warmly and walked outside the door.

Nathan looked around the empty house to pass time. He was feeling so numb since yesterday morning that he couldn't help but look for something to help him. There was only one thing that helped Nathan when his world was falling apart. One thing to make him forget his pain.

As he searched inside every room of the house he couldn't stop thinking, 'Where's the bar?'

* * *

**A/N**: Ah, another finished chapter. I'm trying my hardest not to sleep on this one, guys. Hope ya leave happy reviews!


	5. Chapter 5

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter V**

**A/N**: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! I _really_ appreciate them and that's the reason why I'm not gonna sleep on this FF. I can't thank y'all enough.

**WARNING**: Even though this story already included a sex scene in the first chapter, it was a bit mild. I'm including another one in this chapter and it's not as tame as the last (but it's not exactly an adult movie either) so just be warned. The couple, in question, probably isn't the two who the readers are anticipating.

* * *

The sun was just preparing to settle in as Brooke walked up to Lucas's door with her hands in her pockets and feet alert to start running if need be. She and Lucas were so young but she had a feeling that this _little_ part of him actually wanted the "expected" child. She was hoping he was going to be relieved but she knew that wasn't going to be the case. She let out a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Lucas swung the door open and his green eyes were raging. When he saw Brooke was alone his entire facial expression changed in a second.

"Brooke!" he said, half excited, half shocked.

He grabbed Brooke by the hand, gently, and escorted her into his room.

"I'm glad you stopped by. I wanted to apologize for the way I acted."

"It's understandable." Brooke sympathized.

"No, it's not. I promised you I wasn't going to overreact and then I jumped on Nathan three seconds later. I was out of line."

Brooke looked at Lucas and she could tell he was genuinely ashamed for what he did earlier. He faced the ground the entire time, only taking penitent glances between sentences.

"Haley is your best friend, Luke. Someone had to defend her." He forced a smile. "Besides, you're not the only one who's been lying lately."

Lucas looked at her with a very concerned face. Furrowed eyebrows and all.

"Brooke?"

Brooke's eyes started trailing off with uncontrollable tears. She looked up at Lucas and decided to tell the truth.

"I'm not pregnant, Luke." Lucas's face had 10 different reactions at once. "I'm so sorry!" she wailed, trying her hardest to stop crying.

Lucas's knees shook before he literally fell on his bed. Brooke sat next to him, hoping he wasn't going to get up and walk away.

"So? Where does this leave us?"

--

Rachel walked up to the door slowly and finger-fiddled with the keys. Before she could slide the right key into the lock, an arm wrapped itself around her waists. She turned around, forcing a surprised face for the waist holder.

The man in question was an epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. He leaned in to give Rachel a kiss but she looked away.

"No good night kiss?" he asked after sighing from the rejection.

Rachel laughed. "It's not exactly night time yet." Rachel declared. "Besides, good night kisses lead to good morning greetings and I told you earlier I'm trying to steer clear from anything past 2nd base at the moment."

"Whatever you say, Brooke." The man sighed.

"Goodnight, Nick." Rachel said, teasing in tone.

She opened the door and slid through quickly, hoping he wasn't going to force himself through the door. When she got her entire body through the door she closed and locked it quickly.

"So… you were on a date all day?" a voice called from behind.

Rachel turned around to see Nathan burned out on the couch with a 3 empty liquor bottles surrounding the coffee table.

"Yeah… it was a guy I met over the internet." Rachel explained.

"I figured. So his… name is Nick." Rachel was sure his tone would've been matter-of-fact if he wasn't slurring his words.

Rachel shook her head.

"Like Saint Nick?"

"Not really." Rachel smirked a little and shrugged playfully.

"And you lied about your name. If I were to ever lie about my name, I'd go with Brooke too. Good one."

Rachel smiled.

She couldn't help but notice -- besides the alcohol bottles -- that Nathan had pillows and a comforter splattered over the couch.

"You're sleeping here tonight?" she asked.

"I'm sleeping here… indefinitely." He corrected her. She wasn't sure if that pause was intentional for dramatic effect or just another drunken slur.

"Why didn't you take the guest room?" she questioned in a more inviting tone while pointing to the stairs.

"Brooke said she was sleeping there tonight; something about not wanting to sleep in a room with backstabbers." Nathan started laughing to himself as he finished that last sentence. Rachel figured it was because he _just_ realized what Brooke meant by that.

Rachel just laughed along with Nathan and sat on the arm rest of the couch. Nathan wiggled in his potato couch position and took another swap of the bottle in hand.

"So… you've been drinking I see." Rachel cited.

"Yup!" He replied with a slight sense of defense under his child-like yell. "That's what people do when life sucks. They drink."

Rachel put her head down after that remark. If she wasn't feeling guilty enough, hearing how she ruined a guy's life from his own mouth was definitely a nerve-hitter.

Nathan quickly took notice of Rachel's frowns. He scooted towards her and tried to get eye contact through her hair. He pushed her fiery red hair behind her head and started play with her hair while he looked her in the eyes.

"It's not your fault… you know that?"

Rachel shook her head and gave Nathan an unconvincing lopsided smile. She stood to her feet and started to walk towards the stairs. A part of Nathan wanted to chase her but he had no idea what he was going to say or do after doing so. Instead, he just let out an aggravated groan and plopped down onto his pillows.

--

Derek had circled Peyton's room about 20 or 30 times at this point. Peyton giggled while watching her brother nervously stomp around her room like he was in training or something.

"You know… Psycho Derek is locked up right now. I doubt he's getting out." Peyton declared

"I know. I'm just… worried for you."

Peyton chuckled. He reminded her so much of her dad, who literally fell out in the middle of his night time "guarding" after the school shooting.

"What?" Derek didn't know whether he should be ashamed or laugh along with her.

"It's just… you remind me of my father." Peyton stood up and wrapped her arms around Derek. "I know you're tired of all these hugs but-"

"I'm not." He interrupted before returning the hug.

"I'm glad you're my brother."

The hug was suddenly broken and Derek glanced at his wristwatch.

"It's getting late." Derek announced, walking towards the door. "I hate to leave you here alone but I have to be tough on you."

"Ummm…" Peyton stammered. "You do know Haley is sleeping here tonight?"

"Right." Derek answered, remembering.

Haley, on perfect timing, walked into the room with a pillow wrapped around her arms. Derek shuffled his feet a little bit and looked around the room awkwardly.

"Am I ruining a brother/sister moment right now?" Haley asked, almost sounding like her old sarcastic self for the first time on that depressing day. "I can go somewhere else and come back later."

"No, it's fine. I was just leaving." Derek said.

He walked towards Peyton and gave her a nice, securing hug. Then, he turned to Haley and stood there for a moment. He patted her on the shoulder and started leaving the room.

"It was nice meeting you, Derek."

"You too, Haley."

And with those last words Derek walked out the room and eventually out of the house.

Peyton looked over at Haley and gave a concerning frown. Haley exhaled and looked around the room to avoid eye contact.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Haley said.

"Do what?"

"Pretend like you're depressed because I'm depressed."

Peyton walked over to Haley and put her one arm around Haley's shoulder. Together, they both flopped onto the bed.

"Who's pretending?" Peyton asked in a more confirming-the-opposite tone before colliding foreheads with Haley.

"Hey Hales?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been avoiding this but…" Peyton paused and gave herself some distance from Haley. "What are you going to do about the baby?"

--

The sunlight always found a way to soak into Lucas's eyes in the morning. This one was no different. He squinted as the sun soaked into his eyes and he looked beside him to find Brooke, looking like the sleeping beauty herself. Memories of last night started to resurface in his head.

"_So… Where does this leave us?"_

_Lucas had no idea what to say or think. He just rushed in and kissed her. He's do anything to numb the array of emotions in his mind. They kissed passionately as Lucas started to unbutton Brooke's jeans. She slipped his shirt over his head and threw it over her shoulders. After taking off his shirt she started to unbutton his pants. Lucas unsnapped her bra and undressed her from the top. Lucas slowly nibbled on her ear and kiss her soft, smooth neck. She threw her head back in ecstasy and moaned loudly._

"_I want you, Luke." _

_Those were the only words that could escape her mouth before Lucas went in for another long, passionate kiss. His fingers found a way inside her laced panties as he began to slip his fingers into her wet center. Any screaming that Brooke did while he massaged her was muffled by his kiss, where he'd bite her lips if they didn't follow his rhythm._

_Soon enough, his stiffened member found a way outside his boxers and Brooke was quick to grab hold of it. _

"_I want you inside of me." She said between constant moans. _

_Lucas was working a number on her and Brooke had intentions of returning the favor. She stroked his member with a furiously hard grip and smiled as he threw his head back and moaned loudly. She stood before him as he sat on the bed and wiggled her waist until her jeans hit the floor. _

_When she finally lost the jeans, she jumped onto Lucas and let him slide inside of her; both of them weakened by the ecstasy surrounding them. _

As Lucas started to fall back to the present, he could feel something against his stomach. He looked down to see Brooke's fingers tracing his abs. He looked back at Brooke who was now awoke and smiling. He didn't smile back. Instead, he crawled out of bed and looked around the entire room for the clothes he wore last night.

"What's going on?" Brooke asked, gaining awareness of her surroundings.

Lucas put on the first pair of underwear he could find in his room and then he stood against a wall. He folded his arms and locked his jaws, trying his best to look away from the naked beautiful goddess before him.

"Lucas?"

"Last night…" he paused. "…was a mistake."

--

Brooke walked into the house in a zombie-like state. It was still early in the morning and she wasn't expecting anyone to be awake but she was wrong. Nathan was wide-awake on the couch with a beer in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

"Nathan?" Brooke said in a shocked voice.

"Brooke…" he stretched the Brooke longer than usual. "What happened?"

Brooke looked around the living room and quickly noticed the half dozen liquor bottles scattered all over the coffee table. Not counting the one in Nathan's hand and the two other bottles on standby beside the couch.

"It looks like someone threw a party in here, Nathan." She mentioned, hoping it didn't sound too upsetting. "Did you drink all this?"

Nathan nodded and looked down to his phone.

"Haley hasn't returned any of my calls. What am I supposed to do?" he asked, sounding almost as pitiful as he looked.

Brooke frowned.

"It's still early in the morning. Maybe she's still asleep." Brooke pitied Nathan as she patted him on the back. "Meanwhile, I think I'll join you in your downpour." She finished. She took a seat next to him and grabbed one of the two bottles beside the couch.

"I guess things didn't go so well with Lucas."

Brooke shook her head before taking a swipe from the bottle.

It wasn't long before footsteps could be heard walking down the stairs. Rachel entered the living and frowned at the sight.

"Nathan!" she fussed. "My alcoholic parents are probably going to notice all the liquor missing from their bar." Nathan rolled his eyes in a nonchalant manner and took a drink. Brooke, on the other hand, looked at her bottle and frowned. "Life sucks you guys, I get it. But Nathan, you're seriously going to leave an imprint on that couch if you lay on it that long…" she looked over at Brooke. "And you're fat ass shouldn't be sitting on my couch at all."

"Ha ha!" Brooke responded lazily.

Brooke dropped her bottle of liquor and stood up from the couch. She turned around to Nathan, who was still slouching. Brooke reached a hand out towards him and she could notice a positive response in his eyes. She was waiting for him to drop his bottle and stand beside her but the moment was broken by the ringing of his cell phone.

Nathan quickly looked at his phone and nearly gasped as he saw Haley's name light up on the screen.

"It's Haley." He shouted out, sounding almost excited as if she showed up in front the door with her arms wide open.

Brooke was very excited. She clasped her hands together in a very joyous way but tried not to let her excitement show. Rachel let out a smile.

"Haley?"

"Nathan?" Haley's voice called out through the phone.

"Yeah, it's me." Nathan answered. "I'm so glad you called. I miss you, baby."

"Nathan, I…" she stopped. "I didn't call to get back together."

"Then why'd you call?" he asked, knowing it wasn't good.

"I thought a lot about us and this baby."

"What are you going to do?"

Nathan's heart dropped. He had a feeling of what Haley was going to say next.

"I think I'm going to get an abortion."

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, I did leave this on quite a little hanger. Sorry about that. I'm also sorry that Rachel's reason for her absence wasn't a "juicy" as I hyped it up to be. I'm going somewhere these obstacles, I promise. In the meantime, motivate me by _reviewing_.


	6. Chapter 6

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter VI**

* * *

Rachel's alarm clock began ringing on the scheduled Monday morning. Rachel opened her eyes from a restless sleep and hit the alarm button. She fell back on her pillow and began to watch the ceiling. Yesterday was just an emotional blur for her and she was hoping that when she found enough energy to crawl out of bed that Nathan would be dressed, sober, and ready to face life.

After receiving that devastating call yesterday, Nathan was an emotional zombie. The call put a damper on Brooke's day but Rachel suspected that something was probably bothering her before the call. Rachel herself spent the entire day dodging Nick's calls and blaming herself for Haley wanting to get an abortion. If there was ever a wasted day, yesterday would've been that day -- literally a "wasted day" for one certain Scott.

Rachel, after recapping yesterday's lackluster events, climbed out of bed and quickly got dressed. She made her way down the staircase hoping that when she turned to look at the couch she wouldn't see the same sorry sight she saw yesterday. Of course, she didn't get what she was hoping for.

"Morning, Nathan." She greeted him with a really low-toned morning voice. He, however, didn't see fit to return the greeting. He glanced at her and then took a mouthful of strong liquor; the strongest in her house. "How long have you been up?" she asked him as she sat next to him.

"An hour." He answered. "Maybe two. I lost track of time."

"Nathan… you do know it's a school morning right?" Rachel said, hoping that maybe he didn't realize.

"Yeah. So?"

"So… so you're a senior and you're _this_ close to graduating." She tried her best not to get an attitude with him. He just pouted and fell back into the couch. "So that's it? You're going to throw away your entire life because everything's shit right now?!" she said, raising her voice.

"What about my baby's life?" Nathan remarked with a full eyes of welling tears.

"Nathan, I-"

"Two days ago, I treated the baby like it was nothing. My wife told me she was pregnant with our baby and I turned the other way -- a part of me hoping that it would all go away." Rachel's eyes struck tears with that last sentence. "A part of me was actually hoping that I was going to wake up and realize that the baby wasn't real. That _my_ baby wasn't real." Nathan looked at Rachel with tears streaming down his eyes. "And now, I'll do _anything_ to take it all back!"

Rachel's arms swung around Nathan's neck for a hug but she eventually realized she was comforting him. His head was buried in her chest and her chin was resting on the crown on his head. Rachel stroked 

his hair a few times before he picked his head up to look at her. Tears were smeared all over his face and his eyes were blotched. Eventually, they were looking at each close enough to feel their breath transfer from one another. Nathan cleared his throat and backed away from Rachel.

"Go to school, Nathan. Talk to Haley."

Nathan shook his head and curled up to the corner of the couch.

"I can't, Rachel. Look at me. I'm a fucking mess."

"She'll forgive you. I know she would."

Nathan shook his head yet again and drunk from the bottle. For that one minute that Nathan wasn't a shell of himself, Rachel had almost forgotten that he was drunk. She looked around the room and noticed that there were already 3 beer cans scattered on the floor. They weren't there last night.

Rachel stood to her feet and wiped her tears as she walked away quickly.

--

Peyton supported Haley as she made a run for the bathroom toilet. Haley's head reached over the ring of the toilet just seconds before she was going to spew her morning sickness all over Peyton's bathroom tiles.

"Wow, this is becoming a part of your regular schedule." Peyton remarked as Haley's head hung inside the toilet.

Just as Peyton had finished with her light chuckles, an arm reached up and grabbed her shoulders. She shrieked and tumbled down to the cold ground next to Haley. Derek stood before her with a guilty grin on his face.

"And that's becoming a part of _your_ regular schedule." Haley said, taking advantage of the moment.

Peyton laughed to herself. Haley was right. Every since Psycho Derek attacked her, she has been real fidgety. Haley stood up from her toilet and helped Peyton to her feet.

"That's why you're here." Peyton said, implying that Haley was her protection. "So if anyone ever does come here again, you'll be the first to get killed." She joked.

Haley snickered and walked past Derek and back into the bedroom. The sounds of the spring mattress were heard even in Derek's distance.

"Isn't today a school day?" He asked.

"Yeah, but given the crappy weekend she's had, I think it's plausible that she gets a day or two off from school." Peyton said in a very low voice.

"So, has she talked to…?" Derek had trouble remembering Haley's husband's name.

"Nathan." Peyton answered. "No… not since she told him about… ya know."

Derek nodded. "And she's already decided on going through with it?"

Peyton shrugged. "I have no idea." She lowered her voice after realizing it wasn't as low as she'd thought. "Yesterday was a crap day. I'm hoping that maybe she's had enough time to consider what she really wants."

Derek shook his head. He only met Peyton 3 days ago and he already knew more than enough of her crazy life and the friends in it. But, there was one thing that she would always avoid. Her love life.

Derek looked around the bathroom awkwardly as Peyton washed her hands. "So… do you want a ride to school?"

Peyton nodded excitingly and clasped her hands together as she walked towards Derek.

"Can I test drive?"

"Am I black?" He asked, mocking her tone and pulling out the car keys from his pocket, dangling them on a loose grip.

Peyton squealed excitingly and grabbed the keys and made her way down the stairs.

"I'll be outside warming the car up, slow poke!"

Derek began following her steps. As he passed her bedroom, he looked across the room to see Haley burying her face in her pillow. Afraid that maybe she didn't want him to see her so vulnerable, he hurried and left the house quickly.

--

Brooke had replayed her day out in her head over a million times. 'Avoid Lucas, go home, do homework.' She even had a game plan on how she was going to avoid Lucas. She knew his class schedule upside down and she also knew which routes he'd take on his way to class. But when she looked across the street and saw Lucas pulling up in the school parking lot, her whole plan went away.

She walked over to Lucas with half a mind to hit him. After running into him, purposely, she stomped her feet and made a fist.

"I need to know _why_!" she demanded.

"Why? Why what?" he asked, almost sounding innocent through his unresponsive face.

"Why'd you do that to me?" Lucas rolled his eyes. She stopped him dead in his tracks as he attempted to walk away. "Why did you make love to me that night and then dump me in the morning?"

"Oh right! I think you forgot that you lied to me about being pregnant… _again_."

Brooke scoffed in an aggravated manner. "I think you lied to me about kissing Peyton… _again_," she mocked. "But I was ready to forgive you and put it all past us."

"Brooke, what do you want from me?" Lucas asked.

"What do I want? What do you want?! You dumped yesterday morning and I didn't say _anything_. I didn't ask any questions and I didn't cry. I just got dressed and left. If that tells you that I want something from you then I know there's something you want from me!"

Lucas looked at her with the coldest eyes and an even colder response. "I got what I wanted from you the other night." And with that heartless remark, he left Brooke behind in tears.

--

Peyton drove up towards the school parking lot in Derek's car. He was on the passenger's side and he was stiff and pretty quiet.

"So what time do I come and pick you up?" he asked.

"Um, three-thirty-ish." She answered, smiling. "So I guess I'll see you then."

As Peyton opened the door and started to exit, she was stopped by his call.

"Peyton?" she entered the car but left the door open. "Tell me a little more about yourself before you go." Peyton closed the door, realizing this conversation might take a while.

"I don't know what else there is to say. I told you all about my mom, my dad, Ellie. Hell, you even know about my best friends."

"Are you seeing someone?" he asked so suddenly. She put her head down. "I realize you change the subject every time someone mentions something like that."

"No… not really." She answered. He looked at her and started to open his mouth but she answered the obvious question. "Remember that guy, Lucas." Derek nodded. "Well, I think… no, I know that I am in love with him." Derek attempted to speak but once again, Peyton beat him to the punch. "Things are too complicated right now. He's in love with Brooke and not with me." she forced a smile and decided to speak before he could say 'I'm sorry'. "So, what about you? Is there a special girl in your life?"

"There was." He answered. "Her name was Alicia. I knew her since middle school. We started dating my freshmen year in high school."

Peyton smiled. "What happened?"

"Life. I went through most of my high school life thinking that we were meant to be. Then, when life happened, I realized that fairy tales didn't exist. That, along with my anger for my father, is the reason why I turned out to be this way I am now." He followed in true Peyton Sawyer tradition and hung his head in shame and embarrassment.

"You're an amazing person." Peyton corrected him. "Don't let anyone tell you different."

Derek looked at her and let out a small and subtle grin.

"Don't try to butter me up now, P. Sawyer. It's time for you to go to class." He ordered, going right back into his army man demeanor.

"Darn it!" she shouted back sarcastically before joining him in laughter.

--

The warning bell rung loudly through the hallways as the kids scuffled to get to their classes. Just as Rachel closed the door to her locker and started walking to class, a particular short-haired curly blonde called her a slut as she passed her way.

Rachel ran to catch up to the girl. "Peyton, shut up!"

"Right, because I'm going to take orders from you." She responded facetiously.

"In that case, go jump a bridge."

"Okay, I'll do that after you go suck a married guy's dick… oh wait!"

"Wow, talk about hearing it from the master of man-stealing whores!"

"Lucas doesn't compare to Nathan." Peyton defended, raising her tone.

"You're right! Haley was never my best friend and Lucas never got ostracized after kissing you."

"Nathan is ostracized? That's funny. I thought he had you."

"Nathan has Vodka. He's a mess right now and all he wants is Haley." Rachel explained.

"What kind of sick, twisted game is this Rachel? First, you steal Nathan and now when you have him you're rooting for Haley."

"I don't want to steal Nathan. Besides, I have a boyfriend." Rachel announced with her chin up to the sky.

"Yeah… sure you do! What's his name?"

Rachel and Peyton entered English class in unison. Before Rachel could answer the question, she looked up at the teacher. Her mouth dropped. The man in front of the class with a roll sheet and a suit was the same handsome devil whose phone calls she avoided yesterday.

"Nick?!"

He looked up at her and followed a similar facial reaction.

"Brooke?!"

Brooke, who was already in class with a pen and paper handy, raised her hand. "Present!"

--

Derek knocked on Peyton's bedroom door patiently. Peyton was gone at school and he was sure Haley was in there sleeping. After knocking for the 3rd consecutive time, he creaked it open and poked a head in. Haley was walking out of Peyton closet, rubbing her sleeves against her blotched face.

"Oh… it's you. I thought you were Peyton checking on me in-between classes or something." Haley said, forcing a playful laugh.

"No. Actually, I wanted to talk to you." Derek said, taking a seat on the bed.

Haley took a seat next to him and nudged him; her way of telling him to go forth with his proposal.

"I know a lot about you but you don't know too much about me." He stated as an icebreaker. "When I was in the 6th grade, I met this girl named Alicia." He smiled. "She was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. We remained best friends through middle school and started dating during high school." Haley smiled along with Derek. "We were dating -- on and off -- for three years."

"What happened?"

His smile faded and he let out a sigh. "Junior year, she got pregnant." Haley's heart dropped. "I was scared and selfish. She was scared, too, but she was ready to face it." He looked away from Haley. "I wasn't. So…" He took a long pause. "I told her to get an abortion. At first she fought me on it but eventually she gave in."

Haley covered her mouth in sadness and looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

"After the abortion, we were never the same again. I was a mess and she stopped trusting me all together. And I swear to god if I could take it back, I would."

Haley looked up at Derek and frowned with empathy.

"Derek, I'm sorry." She let out in her dumbfounded state.

Derek shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just… I thought I'd share something with you." He responded lowly.

Haley stood there with no idea what to do or say next. Derek looked around the room shortly before walking towards the bedroom door.

"Lock the door behind me." He ordered as he left out the room.

She followed him down the stairs and into the living room. Derek was standing on the welcome mat in front the front door and looking on the inside. Haley stood by the door with a million faces in one. As he started to turn away and walk to his car, he could hear Haley call out to him.

"Derek. I just wanted to say thanks."

He nodded and left to his car. Haley shut the door slowly ran to the window. She watched Derek the entire time until the car was out of sight.

--

**A/N**: Yeah, kind of a longer-than-usual chapter for such a filler. I basically used this chapter to set up a few storylines. I don't know how long I'm going to keep this fic going but I do have an idea of where I'm taking it… I guess. Anyway, **please review**!!


	7. Chapter 7

**An Inconvenient Comfort**

**Chapter VII**

**A/N**: I decided to shy away from the heavy doom-and-gloom this chapter and possibly resolve a few problems along the way. I finally got an idea of how this story might end but in order to do that, I have to stop dragging along the small details and move on to the big idea(I think we all know what that is wink).

* * *

Rachel stood in the empty school halls with her back against the walls. She took heavy breaths of distress as she contemplated when she was going to enter class... if she was going to enter class. Every time her hand grazed the iron of the class's doorknob she fell back instantly and started to catch her breath. She repeated the routine for a full hour without realizing it.

The class bell rung and all her classmates started to exit the class; Brooke and Peyton, respectively, took devilish glances as they entered the halls to see her against the wall.

Rachel tucked her hair behind her head, took a deep breath, and straightened her posture as she entered the classroom. Mr. Chavez… or, Nick, was clearing the chalkboard before the next batch of students shuffled their way into his class.

"Nick…" Rachel said lowly to catch his attention.

He turned around to face Rachel as she kept her distance. He glided over to the door and shut it.

"Brooke…" he said in an uninviting tone. "Or is that even your name?" he folded his arms defensively.

Rachel hadn't expected a different reaction at all. In fact, in her entire hour pacing herself in the halls she had replayed how she imagined the conversation to go the entire time.

First, he'd be really pissed and hardly look at her in the eyes. Then, he'd ask her about her real name and how old she is. After she reveals that she's still a kid he'd tell her what happened was a mistake and they should never mention it again. If he continues to shout at her then she'll start crying to get sympathy points. After he apologizes for going off and let her go, she'd leave feeling slightly victorious with nothing but a slap on the wrist.

"Rachel… my name is Rachel."

She answered quietly with her head facing the ground.

She felt his familiar hands cup her chin and force him to look her in the eyes. She looked questionably and confused into his narrowed eyes before he conjoined their eager lips together. Before she could register the fact that Nick is kissing her, he broke it off and continued to stare her in the eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Rachel."

--

Nathan stumbled into his living room with an arm full of beers. He waddled drunkenly onto his comfort spot on the couch and slouched as he let the armful of canned beers scrambled over the coffee table in front him.

He pinched open the first can of beer and before he knew it, he was gulping down the third can. He drunk in attempt to drown his misery but it never got better. Never.

The doorbell rung through the house several times before Nathan responded to it. He stood up from the couch and dragged himself to the door with a beer in his hand. Peyton stood before him.

"Nathan…" she greeted, nodding genially.

"Peyton?"

"Yeah…" she paused awkwardly and scuffed her tennis shoes on the concrete ground. "I… I'm…" she reached into her bag and pulled out a few envelopes. "I'm just giving you some mail." She uttered as she handed him the letters. "Your electricity is out."

Nathan shrugged nonchalantly to the news and shuffled the letters in his hand. Peyton nodded a bit and began walking away.

"Hey," he called out to her. "how are you?"

"I'm great!" she replied happily. "I could be a little better but I'm still great."

Nathan nodded with a genuine smile. "And Haley?"

"She's… hanging in there."

Peyton had no idea how to reply any better than she had. She didn't want to sugarcoat the situation but she didn't want him to know how horrible she was really doing. She was sick every morning and she spent most of her nights silently sobbing when she thought Peyton was asleep.

Nathan, on the other hand, seemed pleased to hear those words.

"That's good." He replied with a heavy slur.

Peyton looked down to Nathan's hand and noticed the beer he was holding.

"_Nathan has Vodka._"

Those words repeated in her head when she saw the can. Maybe, just maybe, Rachel was right. Nathan surely looked drunk and sloppy. Maybe he was doing horrible and decided to drown himself in guilt.

Peyton pointed to the beer can in his hand before speaking.

"So… drinking in the day, I see." she stated aloud.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" he responded coldly as his eyes narrowed.

Peyton shook her head and took a few steps closer towards Nathan and the door. She lifted her index finger and gave him a small nudge on his shoulder. He stumbled backwards into the house and nearly fell to the ground before regaining his drunken posture and raging out on Peyton.

"What the hell?!"

Peyton glared at Nathan in disappointment before walking into the house and exploring the living room. She quickly noticed the beer cans and liquor bottles that were spread across the entire coffee table.

"Nate…" she managed to escape through her dumbfounded expression as she turned to look at him standing shamefully the door.

Nathan bit his lips as he studied Peyton studying him. Her face had an array of emotions. The most evident one was sympathy. Sympathy was something that he didn't deserve. He can take Peyton being angry at him. Hell, he can even take Peyton ignoring him forever. But not sympathy. He ruined Haley's life. He made a mistake and now he ruined his life and Haley's life. Yet, he found himself often being treated as the victim.

He forced himself to wear a insouciant presence while scowled at Peyton as if she were the enemy.

"So what? I drink! Are you going to judge me now?"

Peyton's face fell quickly to the ground. Her frown grew even larger.

"Nathan, I don't want to fight."

"Yeah?" he forced himself to say aggressively. He made himself sick. "Well, I do!"

Peyton's eyes began to well.

"What?" she shook her head in half-shock, half-sadness. "I don't understand."

Nathan blinked excessively as he saw Peyton's eyes water. His stomach hurled at the sight. He turned around to look away from Peyton.

"You don't mean that." She cried, looking away from Nathan as she cleared her moistened eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Nathan's knees began to shake. He can feel the gravity pull himself to the ground for the first time that day. He quickly grabbed on to the doorknob to support his weaken state but it wasn't enough. His knees crashed into the cold tile of the ground and his head fell immediately behind them. The cold tile stung his heated face.

As his eyes began to slowly close, he took a look at the blurry vision in front of him. Next to the collection of beer cans and liquor scattered on the coffee table he saw a picture of Rachel in a frame. He couldn't really see a sharp vision of her but the red hair was a giveaway. Eventually, without much time, his eyes crashed and his hearing faded through the echoes of his name being shouted through tears.

--

Brooke walked into the house with a tear-stained face. She managed to keep from crying during school but the car ride home was a different story. She gripped the wheel in front of her and her forehead fell collided into it as her tears fell into her lap. Lucas hadn't looked her way the entire day.

As she threw her bag to the floor she surveyed the living room for some sort of evidence that she wasn't alone in the house. The coffee table was wiped clean and there wasn't a liquor bottle or beer can in sight. Her eyes circled the room in disbelief. As she took slow steps into the house footsteps were heard walking down the stairs beside her. A curly blonde walked into the living room.

Brooke shook her head and spat out in disbelief. "Peyton?"

Peyton sighed as she looked at Brooke and turned to look towards the stairs.

"I was here to give Nathan some mail during study hour." Brooke's eyes squinted in confusion. Before she can ask her why she was upstairs Peyton finished, "he fell out after an argument." Brooke gasped. "So, I put him to bed in the guest room and cleaned up a little down here."

"Is he okay?" Brooke asked with her palm over her mouth.

"He's fine. He keeps drifting in and out of sleep."

Brooke simpered and stood in her place for a minute, looking at Peyton. Peyton stood at the bottom of the staircase, bracing tightly onto the rail. As Brooke started to make her way up the stairs, Peyton took that as a sign to leave.

"Wait," Brooke called out as Peyton's hands rested on the doorknob. "You can stay… if you want."

Peyton beamed and met Brooke as she made her way up the stairs.

As they entered the room, Nathan's eyes were nearly open. His eyes searched the room to study his surroundings. The room was dreary and dim-lit. The room lacked furniture and the furniture lacked garnish. It abstracted the beauty that the rest of Rachel's house carried.

Brooke and Peyton were watching him for a while. It wasn't until he felt fingers brushing back his hair that he noticed their presence.

"How are you?" Brooke whispered sensitively.

Nathan's voice was harsh when he spoke. "I feel like shit. What happened?"

"I came over to give you mail and you just fainted right there by the door. You don't remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." He responded as he recollected the event.

Brooke smiled a little as she petted his head. Peyton sat beside Nathan and began rustling through his raven hair playfully. Brooke and Peyton smiled at each other while they toyed Nathan respectively.

"You know you both want me." He joked.

Brooke and Peyton scoffed in laughter before Brooke replied.

"In your dreams."

--

Rachel walked through her hallway. She just spent the entire night making out with Nick and rejecting his pleading for something more than her kisses. She didn't realize at all that the couch was Nathan-less and the coffee table, for the first time since he moved in, was alcohol free.

She opened her door to see Brooke in the secondary bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Brooke." Rachel shot out in surprise. "You're… sleeping in here tonight…?" she said in half-reassurance, half-suspicion.

"Yeah." Brooke said in a deadpan tone as she glanced at Rachel. "I figured I should get used to having backstabbing boyfriend-stealers as best friends."

Rachel paused for a minute and waited to see a smirk from Brooke's mouth. She got one.

"Nathan's sleeping in the guest room." Brooke announced as she broke the silence while they laid themselves to sleep.

Rachel figured he'd be sleeping there with Brooke no longer occupying the bed anymore.

"Is he fine?" Rachel asked, sensing concern in Brooke's voice.

"Fine? Always. Is he okay? Not so much."

Rachel couldn't help but smile just a little at what Brooke said. "That sounds like something I would say."

Brooke shrugged in her sleeping position and looked over at Rachel, who was facing her with a friendly grin.

"You can go talk to him if you want." Brooke said, giving Rachel her approval.

Rachel nodded and crawled out of bed. Before leaving the room, she brushed Brooke's shoulders underneath the covers and quickly made her way to the hallway.

Nathan was in a cold sleep. Not even the loud creaking of the door could awake him. Rachel crept towards the bed and sat on the very edge of it. She sat there for a minute watching him sleep. He looked so young and unmarred while he slept. Seeing his face in the moment reminded her of how young they were. She grew up so fast with the history of her parents (or lack thereof) and now Nathan was honorary member of the club. She sighed deeply as she tried to imagine what he's going through.

Nathan twisted in his sleep and his arm wrapped itself around Rachel's waist.

"Haley…" he mumbled peacefully with his eyes still completely shut.

"No… It's me, Rachel."

Nathan didn't respond to her words. He just snuggled into her bare legs as he gripped tighter onto her waist. He took heavy breaths into the skin of her thighs and his cold fingers ran across the dimples of her back.

"I love you…" he muffled into her skin.

Rachel's eyes widened and muscles tightened at those words. She attempted to swallow but her throat was bone dry. Her first and only thought was to get the hell out before she made the already complex scenario even worst. She twisted her waist a bit to loosen Nathan's grip.

"Don't go, Hales. Please, don't go." He pleaded in a woozy state.

Rachel sat still, afraid to breath at this point. His fingers began to circle her back and send chills down her spine.

"I'm not going anyway." She responded to him.

She placed her hands on his face and admired him while he slept. It was the first time in a long time that he was carefree and happy. She stroked his cheek and tucked his growing hair behind his ear.

"I love you…" he repeated. The room grew silent. Silent of the gulping and heavy breathing. Nathan ruffled into her thighs once more and spoke again. "Did you hear me?"

'Can he hear me?' Rachel thought to herself.

"I love you too, Nathan."

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah... so... you know the drill. Make my day and leave a review!! Please.


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